June 10th, 2008

McCain vs. Obama on Gun Control

We now know for certain the two candidates for President of the United States — Obama and John McCain. The views of these two men on gun issues could not be more different. McCain has supported Second Amendment rights and opposed more restrictive gun laws at the Federal level. Obama supports bans on all semi-automatic weapons, approves strict local restrictions on handguns, and he co-sponsored a bill in 2000 limiting handgun sales to one per month. Make no mistake about it, Barrack Obama is no friend of hunters or firearms enthusiasts.

John McCain NRA

By contrast, John McCain re-affirmed his commitment to gun rights in a recent Interview with the NRA. The complete text of the interview is available online. Here are some highlights:

Q: Senator, throughout your career you have opposed waiting periods on firearm purchases, bans on commonly owned ammunition, and efforts to register and license gun owners. What are your reasons for those positions?

McCain: I have consistently opposed these measures, because they are arbitrary restrictions on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. Gun bans, waiting periods, ammunition bans, registration and licensing of gun owners — each of these has a common theme: They only affect law-abiding citizens. And they have another common theme: They don’t work as crime-fighting tools.

Q:Senator, why should gun owners support you in November?

While [the NRA and I] have disagreed at times on some issues, I have never tried to hide my positions, or to say one thing and do another. And the fact is that we have always agreed on the vast majority of issues—as evidenced by my opposition to gun bans, ammunition bans, waiting periods, registration and licensing, and other arbitrary restrictions on law-abiding gun owners during my entire career. As I mentioned earlier, of the three presidential candidates who had an opportunity to sign the historic and bipartisan amicus brief in the Heller case—strongly arguing that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms and that Washington, D.C.’s ban on handguns and operable firearms in the home is unconstitutional—I was the only one who did.

Text and photo copyright © 2008 National Rifle Assn., All Rights Reserved.

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